Another Matt Memory

August 23, 2007
12:06 AM

After posting a Knox Memory on Hannah's blog the other day, it got me to thinking and I remembered another funny incident featuring the youngest of the Anderson clan.

Gracie Mae was only a few months old when we were invited over to Rancho del Anderson for supper. We were all in our places: Rachel and Jon were at either end of the table (to keep order, I am sure), while Ashlee and I faced across from The Girls who sat, pretty as a picture, in order by age (and heighth, as it were). Happy Jack was only speaking a few words at the time; he sat next to me. I wasn't sure how that was going to work out because, as we know, Happy Jack is as unpredictable as he is cute. (I have no HJ incidents to report.)

Knox sat in his highchair in an unassuming corner of the dining room--and he didn't really seem to mind. He remained largely silent, content to observe and listen to us, piping up only when running short of food. (Notice I wrote running 'short' of food, not running 'out' of food.)

As you can imagine, we were having a grand time filled with laughter and sharp conversation. Jon and I were discussing one of the historically great soteriological disputes of the Church--or maybe were talking about 'Smokey and the Bandit' (I can't remember)--when the low hum of the meal was shattered by an outburst of surprise, peppered by consternation, from Rachel: 'OH STINK!'

Judging by the way she bolted from her chair in his direction, it didn't take me long to deduce that she was reacting to Knox--who had quietly, unnoticed by all but his mama, thrown up all over himself. In fact, he was still fast at it when I looked over at him. (I was still a new parent and had not built up my baby puke immunity yet, so I had a tough time with it.)

I'm not sure whether it was Rachel's consternation with herself for having fed Knox something that she said she knew better than to give him or Knox's 'What's the Big Deal?' look of incredulity on his face as she wiped him up, but the rest of us got a pretty good chuckle out of the entire episode. The clincher was when Anne Michal gave her 'look'--you know the one where she raises her eyebrows, gives a wry smile, and glances over at you as if to say, 'Hey, what can you do?!'

My one disclaimer would be that I think Matt has a bit o' trouble distinguishing between spit up and throw up. ;)